27 locks Into Manchester

We were up and ready to leave Portland Basin Marina Droylsden for 7.00 and through the first of the 18 single locks at 7.15. The sun was up and although this part  of the Ashton Canal has got it's self a bad reputation it was a pleasant and peaceful cruise.
Some of the locks are quite hard and very slow in filling. At one lock I spied a supermarket trolley in the water right where the white bollards are where people tie their boats. so it was swiftly removed and placed (carefully)  over a safety fence near by.
As we approached the lock no 2 I noticed the pound between 2 and 1 was nearly empty so we had to top it up with enough water to get us in to lock one. Nice to see so much redevelopment going on.

Lock 2 looking back

Then we made our way on to the Rochdale canal and headed towards Castlefield Junction  The second lock we encounter is under a building and rather a bleak place as it seems some of the 
homeless people use it at night to sleep in the dry.

Going Underground . 

The next 7 locks were a bit of a struggle as we have never seen so much water in any canal it was running over the tops of the lock gates.

Flooding in

Can't see the top of the lock gate.

It is a bit of an odd run in to Castlefield as at times you lose the towpath and have to use chain operated locks as the balance beam are very short.

Looking Back towards Piccadilly 

We only encountered a few gent's who had been drinking the falling down water but they were quite chatty and no problem although we had heard different stories about these gents.

So at 3.00 Pm we managed to moor in the last remaining place in Castlefield and partake in our own falling down water as this was well deserved.

We are shopping in Manchester tomorrow.

Time Travelled Thursday 8 Hrs  Distance 5 Miles 18 Single Locks 9 Double Locks

Total Distance Travelled is 316.5. Miles 

75 Locks (Broad) 196 single locks and 14 tunnel's,

Total Tunnel length 7769  yards   
Total Time 190.5 hours  
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